- Number 308 |
- March 29, 2010
Z-contrast images first to discern light atoms
Individual boron and
nitrogen atoms are
clearly
distinguished
by their intensity in
this Z-contrast
STEM image.
Using the latest in aberration-corrected electron microscopy, researchers at the DOE's's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their colleagues have obtained the first images that distinguish individual light atoms such as boron, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. The ORNL images were obtained with a Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). Individual atoms of carbon, boron, nitrogen and oxygen—all of which have low atomic numbers—were resolved on a single-layer boron nitride sample. The new high-resolution imaging technique enables materials researchers to analyze, atom by atom, the molecular structure of experimental materials and discern structural defects in those materials. Defects introduced into a material—for example, the placement of an impurity atom or molecule in the material's structure—are often responsible for the material's properties.
[Bill Cabage, 865.574.4399,
cabagewh@ornl.gov]
